1. GSM phones don't need to be branded or unlocked for them to know it's you. It's your SIM card that ties your phone to your account. That's why if you take your SIM card out, the phone won't work right.

2. They can also tell what type of service you have with your account, and how that service is being used. You're going to use a laptop for the internet. I'm sure that a simple cell phone running that much data through it would cause someone to notice it. Companies have such system limitations on services to prevent accidental charges from not disconnecting the web browser, limit the access and strain on their networks, and to prevent fraud. Remember, web pages on a cell phone are smaller in size than web pages viewed on a laptop full br...(continues)

Personally I don't believe in all these seperate charges for internet, whether it's on a regular phone, a WinMo smartphone, or a laptop, internet is internet is internet.

With reguards to your comment that web pages are much larger on a full web browser on a laptop, most web pages now a days are displayed the same on a cell phone as they are on a laptop thanks to mobile web browsers such as Opera Mini 4.1, and Skyfire.

internet is internet is like saying a car is a car, wether its a bmw or a kia.or dialup is the same as dsl cable or fiber op to the home.yes they get you to from point A to point B but the method is different.

So please explain something to me, on my cell phone, using Opera Mini 4.1 for example, what is the difference in the amount of data that is loaded when viewing PhoneScoop, compared to using IE on my laptop, because they are both displayed the same, except on my phone it's formatted in a column. Because I really do believe webpages are the same amount of date, using either Opera Mini or Skyfire as it is using IE, I really do. The webpages certainly appear the same, that's for sure.

On my n95 I need to select to get the desktop version of websites with most sites, Doing that will use more data and if I always select to get the full desktop version of sites I will also hit the cap faster. The cap is for excessive use. If you do it on your phone or laptop its just easier to reach it on your computer. You can still reach the cap and get a bill for thousands by simply surfing excessively on your phone. I always keep an eye on it because I download alot of music and videos directly to my phone but I make sure to get too close to the cap or they will start watching.

On my N95 I use Opera Mini 4.1, and most webpages are the same as on a PC, PhoneScoop, Endgadget, those sites are the saem.

So you say you monitor your usage, how close do you get? Cause the things you mentioned such as downloading songs and vids, I don't do, heck I have over a thousand songs on my microsd card, and that's still not over 5 gigs, so how close to the cap do you get on average.

I do not get too close. I keep an eye on it becuase of the possibility of them charging me for heavy use of internet, which you are not supposed to do. Im just the messenger man, If they suspect or think you are using the internet too much, they can charge you for it. I've seen it happen so Im just carefull. You don't necessary need to reach the cap to get a huge charge. They just need to think you are using it way more than normal. Its not fair at all but what can you do right? Because of the cap is that I stay using the n95 browser. I can pick between mobile or desktop so it helps. Really, the best of luck with using it as modem but if you get a heavy bill in the thousands, you will know why. If THEY THINK you are excessively using the in...(continues)

Cool! I have PC Suite 7 as well but never thought about modem use since I'm in a EDGE area.I think AT&T has a 5 GB month cap on their "unlimited" data so if you are into something like bit torrent you may want to keep a eye on your usage. The N95 just keeps on giving doesn't it!

Yeah, I was going to do the same thing you are doing but a friend that works at cingular/att has told be about the cap. The so called "unlimited" internet plan for your phone is limited to 5Gb which is almost impossible to go over using your phone, but on a computer its not that hard and thats when you start seeing a bill in the thousands, thats why i don't do it anymore.

Yep, $15/mo Unlimited MediaNet is what I have on my account. And I'm a bored security guard by the way, so I do a whole lot of web sufing on either my N95 or Blackjack 2. Really the only time I do much internet surfing on my laptop using my phone as a modem is when I'm @ home in the mornings.

hahaah thats great too bad you cant get the N-95. too bad we cant get the N-95 through at&t with a contract =(i looked at buying one but i dont have that much extra cash flow to be spending that much money on a phone =(